Multi-contact electrical connector assembly

ABSTRACT

An insulator housing is provided having a plurality of openings extending from the back face to the front face thereof. The plurality of openings are located symmetrical about a vertical and horizontal axis passing through the middle of the front face of the housing. The horizontally adjacent openings are staggered vertically. A plurality of extensions extend forward from the front face of the insulator housing, each extension having a vertical member and two horizontal members extending laterally from opposite sides of the vertical member, one at either end thereof. A contact is located within each of the openings and extends forward of the openings coextensive with the extensions. The location of the extensions and the orientation of the horizontal members are such that the extensions interleave with extensions of an identical connector assembly regardless of the orientation to form a guide means and protective enclosure for each of said contact members.

States Patent Uberbacher [54] MULTI-CONTACT ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY [72] Inventor: Edward C. Uberbacher, Poughkeepsie, NY.

[73] Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY.

22 Filed: March 30,1971

21 Appl.No.: 129,431

1151 3,686,617 14 1 Aug. 22, 1972 Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner-Terrell P. Lewis Attorney-Hanifin and Jancin and Harold H. Sweeney, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT An insulator housing is provided having a plurality of openings extending from the back face to the front face thereof. The plurality of openings are located symmetrical about a vertical and horizontal axis passing through the middle of the front face of the housing. The horizontally adjacent openings are staggered vertically. A plurality of extensions extend forward from the front face of the insulator housing, each extension having a vertical member and two horizontal members extending laterally from opposite sides of the vertical member, one at either end thereof. A contact is located within each of the openings and extends forward of the openings coextensive with the extensions. The location of the extensions and the orientation of the horizontal members are such that the extensions interleave with extensions of an identical connector assembly regardless of the orientation to form a guide means and protective enclosure for each of said contact members.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures l l I 1 4 1 Patented Aug. 22, 1972 3,686,617

.2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

INVENTOR EDWARD C4 UBERBACHER ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 22, 1972 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MULTI-CONTACT ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a multi-contact electrical connector assembly and more particularly, to a connector assembly having a higher density of contacts and having a protective extension for protecting the contacts and guiding the interconnection thereof.

Interconnection between cables having a large number of individual wires has been accomplished by two connector halves in which one consists of a multitude of pins and the other consists of an equal multitude of receptacles for the pins. Asthe density of the number of connections to be made has increased, the size of the units has been maintained and in some cases made smaller so that the pins have become very small in diameter and consequently very fragile.

Male contacts other than pins are also available for making multi-electrical connections. The same disadvantages exist with respect to this type of contact. That is, the contact must extend from the surface or opening so that it can fit into the receptacle on the other half of the connector. Again, before the connection is made, this leaves the extending part of the contact open to bending or other damage especially when the connector is very small and fragile. U. S. Pat. No. 3,112,974, issued Dec. 3, 1963, shows a multi-contact electrical connector which has contacts which project from the mating faces of the blocks. It will be appreciated that the contacts, when in position within a connector half, are vulnerable to bending and injury of the extended portion of the contacts. The flanges, etc. which surround the entire face of the block do not prevent injury to the individual contacts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-contact electrical connector in which the contacts are protected from external injury.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a multi-contact electrical connector which, when assembled with a mating identical multi-connector, provides a protective housing completely surrounding each of the electrical contacts.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a multi-contact electrical connector in which the protective extensions are so configured that identical connectors are connectable regardless of the orientatron. I

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-contact electrical connector in which the protective extensions on the connectors serve as positive guide means for connecting the contacts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-contact electrical connector in which the contacts are staggered, thereby diminishing crosstalk.

A multi-contact electrical connector is provided consisting of an insulator housing having a plurality of extensions located between alternate openings and have the horizontal members extending in identical lateral directions. The extensions extending from the first and third quadrants have the vertical members located between the opposite alternate openings and have the horizontal members extending in the opposite lateral directions to the vertical members and the horizontal members of the extensions in the second and fourth quadrants. Each opening has a contact member located therein which extends forward of the openings in the face of said insulator housing coextensive with the extensions. The extensions, when interleaved with extensions of an identical interconnector assembly form a contact guide means and protective enclosure for each of said contact members.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as'illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical elevation view showing a multicontact electrical connector.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of FIG. 1 showing the layout of the openings and the relation of the extensions with respect thereto.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view rotated located along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an expanded view showing the intermeshing of the extensions of identical multi-contact electrical connectors.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing the contacts of mating connectors in engagement.

Referring to FIG. 1, an insulator housing 10 is shown which is usually a one-piece molded plastic housing. The openings 12 that pass from the back face 14 to the front face 16 of the housing are shown in FIG. 3. These openings 12 are also seen in the front face 16 or bottom view of FIG. 2. The openings 12 are staggered one with another for two reasons. The staggering puts an offset distance between the adjacent contacts 18 which are to be held in the respective openings 12 so that the crosstalk is diminished. Also, the openings 12 are staggered so that the tuning fork contact 18 in the respective openings 12 of connectors to be connected together will correctly interconnect. A plurality of extensions 20 extend forward from the front face 16 of the multicontact connector element. These extensions 20 have a vertical element 22 and two lateral elements 24,26. The lateral element 24,26 extend laterally from the upper and lower end of the vertical element 22 in opposite directions. The vertical element 22 of the extension 20 runs vertically between alternate openings 12. It should be noted that the downwardly staggered openings 12 in both the first and second row of openings are directly beneath one another. The upwardly staggered openings 12 are likewise aligned vertically. However, the extensions 20 do not extend from between the same alternate openings 12 in both rows of openings nor do the lateral members 24,26 of the extensions 20 extend in the same directions. For example, the first half of the first or top row of extensions 20 in FIG. 2 have the lateral extensions'24 at the top of the vertical member 22 extending to the right forming the top of the upwardly staggered opening 12. The lateral extending member 26 extending from the bottom of the vertical member 22 in the first half of the first row of extensions extends to the left and forms the bottom of the downwardly staggered opening 12. The second half of the first row of extensions has the extensions extending from between the opposite alternate openings 12 in comparison to the first half of the first row. Also, the lateral element 24 at the top of the vertical element 22 of the extension 20 extends to the left and forms the top of the downwardly staggered opening 12 while the bottom lateral element 26 extends to the right and forms the bottom of the downwardly staggered opening 12. In other words, the extensions in the first and second halves of the first row of extensions are complementary to one another so that the same type multicontact electrical connector, if rotated about the vertical Y axis shown in dotted form in FIG. 2, would intermesh with the extensions 20 shown in the first half of the first row of extensions of FIG. 2. It can be seen, that the vertical elements 22 of the extensions 20 of the second half of the first row of extensions would fit in between the openings 12 in which there is no extension and the lateral members 24,26 would complete the enclosing of the extended openings. The extensions 20 of the first half of the second row are exactly the same as those of the second half of the first row. Thus, if the identical electrical connector is rotated about the horizontal X axis, the extensions 20 of the first half of the second row of extensions would intermesh with the extensions 20 of the first half of the first row of extensions of the non-rotated element. Likewise, the extensions 20 of the second half of the second row are identical to the extensions 20 of the first half of the first row so that the extensions of the second half of the second row will intermesh with the extensions of the second half of the first row on a similar connector when one of the connectors is rotated about the horizontal X axis. Also, this arrangement of the extensions of the second half of the second row, when rotated about the Y axis, will intermesh with the extensions of the first half of the second row on a similar connector. Thus, dividing the face of the electrical connector into quadrants by bisecting the middle of the front face 16 by the vertical Y and horizontal X axes, the extensions 20 of the first and third quadrants are the same and the extensions 20 of the second and fourth quadrants are the same. It will be appreciated that each of these quadrants are shown as containing a half row of extensions 20. The number of extensions 20 in the quadrants can be expanded to contain any number of rows or other configuration as long as the extensions in the quadrants, which are to interconnect, are maintained complementary. In other words, the extensions 20 of the first and fourth, as well as the first and second, quadrants have to be designed complementary so that they can intermesh. Likewise, the extensions 20 of the second and third quadrants, as well as the third and fourth quadrants, have to be designed so that they can intermesh. The extensions 20 of the first and third quadrants are identical and the extensions 20 of the second and fourth quadrants are also identical. Thus, the multi-contact electrical connector is made so that it is connectable to an identical connector regardless of the orientation of one, with respect to the other.

It can be seen from FIG. 4, when the identical connector elements are interconnected, that the vertical elements 22 form the side walls of the extended openings while the lateral member 24,26 of the extensions 20 intermesh to complete the top and bottom walls of the extended openings. Thus, the extended openings are completely surrounded by walls when the connectors are intermeshed or connected.

A tuning fork type contact 18 is inserted into each of the openings 12 in the housing 10. These contacts 18 are inserted from the rear face 14 of the housing 10 and are pushed into position until the housing wall stud 28 fits into the bottom of the U-shaped middle portion of the tuning fork contact 18. This arrests the forward motion and correctly locates the forward position of the tuning fork contact. One wall of the opening 12 is in the form of a beam 30. The beam 30 is free at the forward end and thus bends allowing the contact 18 to be inserted. Once the contact 18 is in the position determined by the stud 28, the back shoulders 32 on the contact 18 should be abutting the cutout portions 34 of the opening 12 as shown in FIG. 3. One of these cutout portions 34 is actually the end of the beam 30 which, after the displacement during the insertion of the tuning fork contact 18, returns to its natural position. The beam 30 is formed during the molding process by locating a cavity both on .the top and bottom surfaces of the housing so that only a thin elongated beam member 30 results. The remaining portion is thin enough to actually be flexible thus forming the desired beam 30. The cutout portions 34 in the forward part of the opening 12 abut the shoulders 32 on the contact 18 so that the contact 18 cannot be pulled or pushed back through the opening 12 when pressure is applied at the front or back thereof. Thus, the shoulders 32 tend to lock the tuning fork contact 18 in place in conjunction with the stud 28. The tuning fork contact 18 is a very thin element and, therefore, the opening 12 in which it is contained is very thin. The tuning fork contacts 18, when interconnected with one another, that is, when identical connectors are interconnected, the arrange ment, as explained previously, provides an upwardly staggered opening mating with a downwardly staggered opening. This can be seen, when it is realized that the upwardly staggered openings in parallel rows are vertically aligned and the downwardly staggered openings are also vertically aligned so that when, for example, the second row is rotated about the X axis, the downwardly staggered opening is placed essentially face to face with the downwardly staggered opening in the row above in the opposite element. However, in rotating about the X axis, the downwardly staggered opening, in the rotated element, becomes an upwardly staggered opening. Thus, upward and downward staggered openings become vertically aligned when juxtaposed in mating faces and the tuning fork contacts 18 therein are offset vertically so that the upward tine of the contact 18 in the downwardly staggered opening fits between the tines of the contact 18 located in the upwardly staggered opening and the bottom tine of the contact in the upwardly staggered opening fits between the tines of the contact 18 located in the downwardly staggered opening.

As can be seen in FIG. 4A, this type of intermeshing of the contacts 18 gives a wiping action when the identical connectors are interconnected and gives a multi-contacting surface. For example, the upper tine contacts the upper surface of the upper tine of the opposing contact 18 and the tine which fits in between the tines of the contact of the opposing element contacts both the upper and lower tine. Thus, there are three contact areas. It will be appreciated that this arrangement considerably improves the reliability of the connection giving more contact area and better reliability over that of a single contact area. The side walls of the extended openings formed by the intermeshing of the extension 20 keeps the tines of the contacts 18 vertically aligned so that they positively interconnect. It can also be seen that the extensions 20 provide protection for the part of the contact 18 which extends beyond the front face 16 of the housing before the connectors are interconnected. It also provides guidance during the interconnection and provides protection by completely surrounding the contacts 18 after interconnection. The staggering of the openings, and particularly the thickness of the extensions 20, diminish crosstalking of one contact 18 with respect to another after interconnection or during the interconnecting. Since the contacts 18 themselves are very thin and they are separated from one another by the thickness of the vertical member 22 of the forward extension 20, a very high density of contacts 18 can be obtained.

A flat plate 36 extends at right angles from the back face 14 of the housing between the first and second row of openings 12. This rearward extending thin flat plate 36 of plastic can be formed during the formation of the housing itself. It provides a strain relief for the wires which are terminated in the contacts 18 inserted in the housing 10. These wires can be clamped at the outer end of the plate 36 thereby moving the strain point from the opening 12 at the back face 14 of the housing 10 to the clamping point. By use of this arrangement, coaxial wire can also be utilized. The clamp (not shown) can serve as an electrical ground connection to which the outer conductor of the coaxial wire is terminated. This common ground for the coaxial wire can be terminated by a wire which leads to one of the contacts 18 in the housing 10 and thereby the outer conductor signal can be passed through the connector when properly interconnected. The side edges of the strain relief plate 36 have grooves 38 therein such that the connector can be guided into connection with a mating piece which has corresponding flanges thereon which fit the grooves. In the situation where a large number of contacts 18 are to be interconnected, the forces may be rather large. Accordingly, a screw latch mechanism can be utilized to overcome the large forces and give a smooth interconnection. The details can be obtained from U. S. Pat. No. 3,209,302, issued Sept. 28, 1965. Referring to FIG. 1, the elongated bolt 40 has a threaded portion 42 thereon which is screwed through the threaded portion 44 of a central opening 46 in the connector. Once the bolt 40 is screwed through this threaded portion 44, it will come to rest with the head 48 against the top of the bolt hole opening. The threaded portion 42 of the bolt 40 will extend forward of the housing and when interconnection is to be made between a mating connector, the threads 42 will pick up on the threaded portion 44 in the central opening of the mating connector when the bolt is turned, thereby providing the force needed to make the connection with a smooth even force.

To prevent the possibility of shorting between contact terminals at the openings 12 in the back surface 14 of the housing 10, a pair of separator elements 46, made of insulative material such as plastic, are provided. These elements 46 have aflat outer surface and are made to fit into the area defined by the back surface 14 of the housing, the side guides and the outer end of the thin flat extensions 36. These insulator elements 46 not only prevent shorting between contacts 18, but provide a protective housing for the connector and a readily available handling area for inserting and removing the connector from its mating connector.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly adapted for connection to an identical connector assembly comprising:

an insulator housing having a plurality of openings extending from a back face to a front face of said housing, said openings are located symmetrical about a vertical and horizontal axis passing through the middle of the front face of the housing, adjacent openings being staggered about a line parallel to the horizontal axis;

a plurality of extensions extending forward from the front face of said insulator housing, each extension having a vertical member and two horizontal members extending laterally in opposite directions from opposite sides of said vertical members, one at either end thereof, said extensions in the second and fourth quadrants have saidvertical members located between alternate openings and have said horizontal members extending in common lateral directions and said extensions in the first and third quadrants have said vertical members located between opposite alternate openings and have said horizontal members extending in opposite lateral directions to said vertical members and horizontal members in said second and fourth quadrants; and

a plurality of contact members, each located within one of said openings and extending forward of said openings coextensive with said extensions, said extensions when interleaved with extensions of said identical interconnector assembly act as guide means and form a complete enclosure for each of said contact members.

2. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein said contact member is a tuning fork contact adapted to receive a tine of an identical tuning fork contact between the tines thereof to give good wiping action and three-point contact.

3. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said connector assembly and said identical connector assembly, when interconnected, have upward staggered openings overlapping downward staggered openings so that said tuning fork contact members, located in said openings, can interconnect tine between tines.

4. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein a stud is provided extending from one of the side walls of said opening in said housing and adapted to fit between tines of said tuning fork contact during insertion and provide a stop for the tuning fork contact limiting the forward position thereof.

5. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said openings within said housing have a narrowed portion abruptly followed by a wider portion thereby forming a pair of flat forwardly facing surfaces, said tuning fork contact having a pair of shoulders at the back portion thereof abutting said forward facing flat surfaces to position said tuning fork contact within the opening and provide a stop to rearward movement of the contact back through the opening.

6. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein the housing contains a plurality of cavities adjacent one of the walls of each of said openings, each of said cavities being sufficiently deep to leave a flexible beam of insulator housing material at the bottom thereof detached at one end so that said beam of housing material bends to provide room for insertion of said tuning fork contact in its respective opening.

7. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said tuning fork contacts are extremely thin and the sides of said vertical members of said extensions form the walls of narrow extension openings such that the tuning fork contacts, when interconnecting, are guided and maintained to provide a positive interconnection thereby allowing a high density of connections per given area. 

1. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly adapted for connection to an identical connector assembly comprising: an insulator housing having a plurality of openings extending from a back face to a front face of said housing, said openings are located symmetrical about a vertical and horizontal axis passing through the middle of The front face of the housing, adjacent openings being staggered about a line parallel to the horizontal axis; a plurality of extensions extending forward from the front face of said insulator housing, each extension having a vertical member and two horizontal members extending laterally in opposite directions from opposite sides of said vertical members, one at either end thereof, said extensions in the second and fourth quadrants have said vertical members located between alternate openings and have said horizontal members extending in common lateral directions and said extensions in the first and third quadrants have said vertical members located between opposite alternate openings and have said horizontal members extending in opposite lateral directions to said vertical members and horizontal members in said second and fourth quadrants; and a plurality of contact members, each located within one of said openings and extending forward of said openings coextensive with said extensions, said extensions when interleaved with extensions of said identical interconnector assembly act as guide means and form a complete enclosure for each of said contact members.
 2. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein said contact member is a tuning fork contact adapted to receive a tine of an identical tuning fork contact between the tines thereof to give good wiping action and three-point contact.
 3. A multi-contact electrical connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said connector assembly and said identical connector assembly, when interconnected, have upward staggered openings overlapping downward staggered openings so that said tuning fork contact members, located in said openings, can interconnect tine between tines.
 4. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein a stud is provided extending from one of the side walls of said opening in said housing and adapted to fit between the tines of said tuning fork contact during insertion and provide a stop for the tuning fork contact limiting the forward position thereof.
 5. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said openings within said housing have a narrowed portion abruptly followed by a wider portion thereby forming a pair of flat forwardly facing surfaces, said tuning fork contact having a pair of shoulders at the back portion thereof abutting said forward facing flat surfaces to position said tuning fork contact within the opening and provide a stop to rearward movement of the contact back through the opening.
 6. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein the housing contains a plurality of cavities adjacent one of the walls of each of said openings, each of said cavities being sufficiently deep to leave a flexible beam of insulator housing material at the bottom thereof detached at one end so that said beam of housing material bends to provide room for insertion of said tuning fork contact in its respective opening.
 7. A multi-contact connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein said tuning fork contacts are extremely thin and the sides of said vertical members of said extensions form the walls of narrow extension openings such that the tuning fork contacts, when interconnecting, are guided and maintained to provide a positive interconnection thereby allowing a high density of connections per given area. 